AAEMI is an organization that was formed in February 2001 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA - with a primary goal of promoting Emergency Medicine in India. AAEMI has always been an integral part of Emergency Medicine in India. We pride ourselves on collaborating with Indian societies to put up international conferences such as EMCON and INTEM. Our members work closely with the Scientific Committee and the Research Committees and we bring, to EMCON, distinguished faculty from around the world. AAEMI members also work individually, with their respective institutions and with organizations in India and they are involved with several aspects of advancing emergency Medicine in India: from setting up Emergency Medical Services in the pre-hospital settings, to providing life support training courses and disaster medicine preparedness courses, as well as our involvement in residency training.

Today, Emergency Medicine is officially recognized as a specialty by the Medical Council of India. But this is not the end. It is merely a new beginning. As we start this new beginning we can learn from the experience of others that have trodden this path before.
When we compare the evolution of EM in America and India, one common beginning stands out. Emergency Medical Services was established many years before, before Emergency medicine was. And as EMS grew and evolved, protocols were developed for paramedics and EMTs for what to do in the field to preserve life and limb. Patients that used to die at home of a heart attack or on the street after trauma started surviving. EMS brought the patients to the ED. And when they got to the ED, they were often met with an intern or a resident, or an ophthalmologist or a dermatologist who was doing time in the ED to maintain their hospital privileges, but not an EM trained physician. And that was one impetus for EM residency programs to be established in the United States. We believe the same situation exists here today. EMS has cropped up all over India. But most emergency departments don’t have Emergency- trained physicians. There is a real need for EM trained physicians in the ED. This raises the question of how do we train Emergency physicians in India to cope with the rapidly growing EMS system?
There are several residency programs that are in place. Many of these programs have not received MCI recognition yet perhaps due to lack of standardization, perhaps due to lack of accreditation.

AAEMI has begun to work alongside some of these programs and is a great resource for residency programs. Not only do we provide didactics of the core curriculum, they also provide clinical supervision. Through our umbrella organization and our membership we provide faculty from prestigious institutions all over the world. Each AAEMI physician that comes to India also brings with them, their expertise and experience and they share the processes that have proven to be successful in their residency programs in the US. The Indian residency program can benefit hugely from the experience of many different institutions. We hope with standardisation of the academic and clinical practices taught in these residency programs in India, reputed Indian bodies will recognize these programs and we can look forward to staffing Indian Emergency Departments with trained Emergency Physicians